In today’s society, technology has become very mainstream; in essence intercultural communication goes hand and hand. Now a day, there are large amounts of people using the Internet to communication with other individuals. People also communicate with one another via online gaming, and video chatting, which has come increasingly popular. The phenomenon that is used by literally millions around the United States and other countries has given us new pathways on how we communicate with other cultures. Through the variety of ways we communicate with each other can have its positive and negative outlook. Intercultural communication through virtual worlds is a way for individuals to learn and or benefit from one another.
Online gaming gives people of multiple cultures the opportunity to interact with others in the cyber world. This could be through online gaming, such as Second Life and World of Warcraft. Individuals create life through an animated character that represents or mimics them to some certain degree. These avatars may have some similar characteristics as the person creating them. Examples of that would be race, age and body type, just to name a few. With there being so many cultures using the internet to interact with one another, it allows individuals to share their views on their culture as well as other cultures, and also gives them the opportunity to learn how cultures operate.
There are benefits to using virtual worlds through online gaming. One would be the communication or the exchanged we have with one another. When individuals play video games and design their own Avatars, they interact with other that find gaming interesting as well. Individuals are able to express their ideas, perceptions of other cultures, as well as their values through gaming. Rita King and Joshua Fouts, founders of a virtual world called Second Life created a dialogue that involves the issues of Islam. Through this online video gaming, individuals are able to share information about their ‘real lives ad beliefs’ in a virtual world (King & Fouts, 2008). Although this study focused on Islam, it could prove beneficial to other cultures, as there would be more conversations with individuals from diverse cultures.
Another benefit from a virtual world through communication is learning about other cultures, you may have never known before. For me personally, I would be interested in learning how other cultures differ from our cultures. Virtual worlds give us insight or knowledge into the many different views of other cultures that surround us.
With that being said, there are some limitations that come with the virtual world through intercultural communications. An example of that would be people not understanding one another. Today we have so many cultures with different beliefs and rituals, that other may not fully understand. When we use the internet or online gaming to interact with people, we would not know where they were from. Individuals may not be aware of where people are from and may some or do something that can be hurtful or disrespectful which was not their intention.
Another limitation that may come with intercultural communication through virtual worlds would be opening up to one another. Even in the real world, we disclose information that we want people to know about us. That could be true with online gaming or through the cyber world. There have been instances on the news where people are using fake online profiles to get into contact with individuals. This could be dangerous because people do not know who the person is that is in contact with you.
Since the Internet has been introduced into our society, it has allowed people to learn other cultures and or customs that we may have never taken the time to learn before. Individuals are able to ask questions through the Internet and receive different views on the topic. If we are able to be open to understanding other cultures and their values, people would be more accepting of our diverse world.
Reference
Jandt, F. (2010) An Introduction to Intercultural Communication (6th ed.).
Washington D.C.: Sage Publications.
Fouts J. S, King R. J,. (2010 , March 15). Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds
(2008-2009). Retrieved from http://www.cceia.org/programs/archive/002/index.html
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